Mirror, Mirror
by Starway Man
Summary: The gods must be crazy. How does Erica Alexandra Harris react when she meets her male counterpart from another world? COMPLETE
1. Brave New World

**Date written: **Sat 14 Jun 2008

**Author:** Starway Man

**Email:** theop at kew dot hotkey dot net dot au

**Disclaimer:** None of the BTVS or Angel references belong to me, but rather Joss and his gang of idi...er, geniuses. Anything taken directly from the TV episodes belongs to the writers in question. And anything else you recognize that's subject to any form of copyright belongs to whoever it belongs to.

**Warnings: **There is some violence, angst, and character death in this one.

**Rating: **R

**Main characters: **Xander, ensemble

**Category: **Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst

**Acknowledgments:** My deepest gratitude as always to the usual suspects: Nodakskip, Greywizard and Francis Eugene. Thanks too to Buffyworld for the transcripts used in the writing of this story.

**Summary: **The gods must be crazy. How does Erica Alexandra Harris react when she meets her male counterpart from another world?

**Title:** Mirror, Mirror

* * *

X: "I wish we could just go back to the way things were before."

A: "And I wish YOU were never born!"

(Xander Harris and Anyanka, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)

"Who are you people?"

(Cordelia Chase, ANGEL)

"The _Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ has, in what we laughingly call the past, had a great deal to say on the subject of parallel universes. Very little of this is, however, at all comprehensible to anyone below the level of Advanced God, and since it is now well-established that all known gods came into existence a good three millionths of a second after the Universe began rather than, as they usually claimed, the previous week, they already have a great deal of explaining to do as it is, and are therefore not available for comment at this time..."

(Douglas Nelson Adams, MOSTLY HARMLESS)

* * *

**Part One: Brave New World**

It was less than a moment after the Big Bang.

Already, there was life.

Forged in the fires of creation, the beings who would eventually become known as the Roman pantheon of gods spread out across the infant cosmos. Soon enough, the ones who would be called Diana, Hecate and Janus encountered the ultimate nemesis of their kind; the entity which was known as the First Evil.

The pantheon watched and waited; and less than a hundred thousand years later, the Universe had cooled to the point where matter and radiation became de-coupled. Stars and planets became possible. The First Evil took notice, and started to make some _**very**_ long-term plans as the lower beings started to evolve on almost every world in existence.

Billions of years later, Janus, due to his unique nature, could perceive the wrinkles in space-time around one particular planet, where untold power emanated from all quarters and the seeds of good and evil finally arose. So, he and his peers investigated further into this, the most powerful world they had ever encountered, and they learned one rather startling fact:

Anything that _**can**_ happen _**will**_ do so. Somehow, somewhere, in the vast multi-dimensional infinity of the Universe.

* * *

**Sunnydale General Hospital, Sunnydale**

**April 12****th****, 1981**

**5:01 am**

Jessica Harris screamed and grasped her husband's hand tightly, as the birth pains ripped through her tired and tortured frame.

It had been a long nine months both for her and the man she'd married, waiting for the arrival of their first child. And now that the big moment was finally here, the redheaded mother-to-be found herself wishing that she'd never, ever let Tony touch her back during the Fourth of July last year.

"AGGGGHHHHH!" the poor woman screamed again, as the doctor and nurses attended to her body's needs. Jessica started panting, physically exhausted. "I can't, I can't do this anymore..."

"Yes you can," Tony said gently. "Come on, Jess, we're almost there..."

"What do you mean, _**we**_?" Jessica snapped at him, her face screwing up into a rictus of agony. "I'm the one doing all the work here – ahhhhhhhhh!" she screamed again.

"Push, Mrs. Harris!" the head nurse called out.

"The baby's crowning, I can see the head!" the doctor said as the newest member of the Harris family started to enter the world. A few moments later, there was a loud slap and then the sound of a squalling infant could be heard in the delivery room.

"Congratulations, it's a girl..."

* * *

**Kindergarten class, Sunnydale**

**September 1****st****, 1986**

**9:06 am**

The redheaded five-year-old burst into tears, staring at the remains of a broken yellow crayon in her hand. Another girl roughly the same age as her, but with black hair, quickly came over.

"Why you crying?" the newcomer asked her companion curiously.

The weeping child showed her the crayon. "I broke it," she said through her tears.

The other girl made a decision. She snatched the crayon from the redhead's hand and marched over to the teacher. "It's broken," the little girl said firmly. "I broke it."

The teacher just shook her head and smiled. "That's okay, sweetie." She took the crayon and gave her a new one. "There you go, all better."

"Thank you," the prepubescent said dutifully, as she hurried back to the sniffling redhead. "All better," the brown-eyed girl parroted as she handed over the new crayon.

The other girl's green eyes went wide. "Why you do that?"

"You were sad," was the childlike answer.

"I'm Willow," the redhead introduced herself.

"I'm Erica," the daughter of Tony and Jessica Harris said. "Wanna play with me?"

Just then, a boy wandered over looking lost and lonely. "Who're you?" Erica Alexandra Harris asked him curiously.

"I'm Jesse," the McNally boy replied, looking at her in sudden interest. "Who're you?"

* * *

**Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale**

**January 9****th****, 1997**

**2:15 pm**

A decade had gone by in almost the blink of an eye, and Willow, Jesse and Erica had grown up and matured into rather precocious 15-year-olds. All three were close friends and had been ever since that first day in kindergarten, but in the case of Jesse and Erica, their friendship had recently developed into something...more.

That was why Mr. McNally and Miss Harris were in the middle of making out in the stacks of the high school's library, when they heard a rather interesting conversation between the librarian and the new arrival in town, the blonde sophomore known as Buffy Summers.

"Dig a bit into the history of this place, you'll find a, a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences," Rupert Giles said as he examined his books. "Now, I believe this whole area is a center of mystical energy, that things gravitate towards it that, that, that you might not find elsewhere."

"Like vampires," Buffy said somewhat sardonically.

"Like zombies, werewolves, incubi, succubi, everything you've ever dreaded was under your bed, but told yourself couldn't be by the light of day. They're all real!" the Watcher said passionately.

"Okay, first of all, I'm a Vampire Slayer. And secondly, I'm retired. Hey, I know! Why don't _**you**_ kill 'em?" Miss Summers asked the Englishman.

Giles looked rather surprised by the question. "I-I'm a Watcher, I-I haven't the skill..."

"Oh, come on, stake through the heart, a little sunlight...it's like falling off a log," Buffy promised him.

"A, a Slayer slays, a Watcher..." Rupert started to say.

"...watches?" Buffy asked.

"Yes. No!" Giles set down the books he had in his arms on a nearby table. "He, he trains her, he, he, he prepares her..."

"Prepares me for what? For getting kicked out of school? For losing all of my friends? For having to spend all of my time fighting for my life, and never getting to tell anyone because I might endanger them? Go ahead! Prepare me!" Buffy ranted, very upset at the weirdness which was her life.

They just looked at each other for a moment before the Summers girl exhaled, turned around and left the library in disgust.

Giles hesitated for an instant. "Damn!" he cursed, before running after Buffy.

Jesse and Erica walked out from behind the stacks, a strange look on both their faces. "What the hell was all that about?" the boy wanted to know.

* * *

**The Bronze, Sunnydale**

**January 10****th****, 1997**

**5:58 pm**

It was the night of the Harvest, and the popular girl known as Cordelia Chase was on the floor of the nightclub with a soulless vampire standing above her. She struggled as the undead version of Jesse McNally snarled, "Hold still, you bitch! You're not making this easy!"

He yanked the brunette up, and his fangs started heading for Cordy's neck when the male fledgling heard a female voice he knew very well. "Jesse, no! Don't do it!"

While the vampire was distracted, a terrified Cordelia took the opportunity to kick him in the shin and run for it. Cursing, the walking corpse nonetheless ignored all that and turned back towards his former girlfriend. "Erica! Come here, baby. It's gonna be you and me, together forever!"

Erica's shaking hands held the cross and stake up indecisively. "Jesse, please! I, I know there's still a part of you in there..." she pleaded with him.

"Okay, then let me clear something up for you," the vampire finally lost his grin. "Jesse McNally was an idiot who would have never amounted to anything except a beer gut, and possibly also a job as the school janitor. But look at me now, sweetheart. I'm a new man!"

He batted the cross aside, grabbed the teenage girl by the throat and shoved her up against the wall. The Jesse vampire then laughed as he saw the stake pressed up against his heart. "Who are you trying to kid, Erica? We both know you can't do it. You just don't have it in you-"

A fleeing patron bumped into Vamp Jesse, impaling him on the stake. Erica let go of the wooden weapon, as her former boyfriend began to fall down. The demon exploded into ashes before he hit the floor, the look of surprised disbelief on his game face the last thing Miss Harris ever saw.

"I'm sorry, Jesse. I loved you," Erica sobbed as Buffy the Vampire Slayer battled the legion of vampires all around her.

* * *

**Sunnydale Zoo, Sunnydale**

**March 20****th****, 1997**

**7:03 pm**

Willow appeared frozen with fear as the creepy zookeeper held a knife to her throat. As Buffy arrived with a bunch of hyena-possessed kids hot on her trail, the redhead cried out, "Buffy, it's a trap!"

The Primal-possessed Erica tackled the blonde Slayer to the ground, as the rest of her pack mates quickly followed suit. The zookeeper shouted, "YU BA YA SA NA!"

The Pack looked up at him, and their eyes all momentarily flashed green.

All, that is, except for Erica's.

The zookeeper growled as his own eyes glowed green, and then the hyena-possessed man dropped the knife as he moved in to bite and eat Willow. "Errrrgh..."

"No!" Giles yelled, as he burst onto the scene and shoved the bad guy aside. Ignoring the confused kids around her, Buffy charged the zookeeper and after a brief fight, she tossed him into the hyena pit. The vicious animals quickly made a three-course meal out of the human, grossing Miss Summers out completely.

That was why the Vampire Slayer was completely unprepared for when Erica attacked her again, just before Giles knocked out the possessed Miss Harris from behind.

* * *

**Former CRD Factory, Sunnydale**

**April 24****th****, 1997**

**7:14 pm**

Erica hadn't felt this stressed ever since Giles had restored her human self-control after the Hyena incident.

It had all started when Willow had confessed to both her friends how she'd found herself an on-line boyfriend, some kid named Malcolm who lived about 80 miles away. Initially, the Slayer and the sidekick had been thrilled for their best friend, who was _**finally**_ coming out of her wallflower phase.

But then, Miss Harris had started to get suspicious. She and Buffy had tried to follow up the clues and find out exactly who 'Malcolm' was...and to their horror, the cyber-Romeo had in fact turned out to be Moloch, a Corruptor demon who had been bound into a book back in the 15th century and was now loose on the Internet.

Well, until he had been bound into his new robotic body just now by a mystical ritual performed on-line, that is.

"Let's go this way!" Erica yelled as she, Buffy and Willow raced along the empty corridor.

"Wait!" Buffy called out. "I can hear somethi-"

She never got the chance to finish as Moloch came crashing through a wall. The demon-bot then quickly advanced on the three girls. He swung at Buffy, and she tried to block the hit; but Moloch didn't budge as he just pushed her aside and into the wall.

"I was omnipotent. I was everything! Now I'm trapped inside this shell!" the creature roared angrily.

"Malcolm!" Willow shouted. Moloch turned to face her, noting with some surprise that the redheaded object of his affections was holding a fire extinguisher. "Remember me, your girlfriend?!"

She pounded the extinguisher into his chest hard enough to make him bend back. "Well, I think it's time we break up!" Eventually though, Miss Rosenberg noticed her hits were having no real effect. "Uh, maybe we can still be friends?"

Moloch grabbed the extinguisher from her and threw it away. He then grabbed Willow and shoved her down the hall straight into Erica, and they both crashed to the floor. "I don't think so, Willow," the cyber-demon said simply.

Buffy had finally recovered from her daze after hitting the wall, and the Slayer got up to face Moloch. The demonic robot turned his attention to her and said, "This body is all I have left. But it's enough to crush you!"

Buffy looked around for a way to deal with the enemy. She noticed a power junction box on the wall, and quickly hatched a dangerous and possibly even foolhardy plan. "Take your best shot, Robbie the Robot."

With a loud yell Moloch reared back for a punch and swung with all his might. Buffy ducked aside, letting him punch right through the cover and into the electrical box. It shorted out, and Moloch was enveloped by a lot of high voltage electricity.

His circuitry overloaded, and the metallic body exploded right in front of the three teenagers. The head landed right in front of her and so a few moments later, Erica asked tentatively, "Is, is it over?"

( _It's never over,_ ) Buffy thought to herself with an inner sigh.

* * *

**Underground cave, Sunnydale**

**May 30****th****, 1997**

**8:10 pm**

It was the night of the Prom, and the Chosen One had just fought and lost against the local vamp lord known as the Master. Erica and her companion, the ensouled vampire known as Angel, arrived on the scene and found Buffy's body floating in a pool of water.

"She's dead!" Angel exclaimed, as he examined the blonde girl.

"No, no, no! She can't be!" Erica cried out.

"She's not breathing," Angel gestured helplessly.

"But if Buffy drowned...CPR! There's still a chance we can bring her back and save the world!" Miss Harris said urgently, given how the prophesized apocalypse was currently at hand.

"You'll have to do it. I have no breath," the vampire confessed.

Erica took off her jacket, and started doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Just when all hope looked lost, Buffy opened her eyes wide and drew in the first breath of her new life. The Slayer lay still for a moment as her eyes flicked back and forth in confusion.

"Buffy!" "Buffy?" Angel and Erica spoke in unison.

Buffy turned her head to the side and coughed out a lot of water. "Angel? Erica?" she finally spluttered.

"Welcome back, Buffy," the black-haired girl said with a fleeting grin.

A few moments later, Miss Summers got up, feeling oddly refreshed. "Come on, let's go – we got us a way-ugly vampire to kill!"

* * *

**1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale**

**October 31****st****, 1997**

**6:15 pm**

Willow almost couldn't believe everything that had happened so far this evening.

Two days ago, Principal Snyder had dragooned most of the students into taking little kids out for the Halloween safety program this year. And not only had Erica and Buffy vetoed her idea for them to dress up as the Three Musketeers, as Cordelia Chase was so fond of calling the three female friends, but the costumes she and her best buds had chosen for trick o' treating tonight...

Well, Miss Rosenberg was just grateful that she had gone as a ghost and thus was still herself, albeit in spirit form, after everyone had turned into their costumes earlier on. Thanks to a spell empowered by Janus, Buffy was now a quivering, helpless, emotional wreck from the past since she had dressed up as an 18th century noblewoman in order to impress her boyfriend Angel.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Erica...

Willow winced as a barrage of ancient Greek came from the dark-haired woman wearing a leather battle-dress and wielding a long, sharp sword in the middle of the living room. The ghost was no linguistic expert, but she was willing to bet that there was a large number of swear words being directed at her by the female warrior possessing Erica's body.

"She just _**had **_to dress up as Xena, didn't she?" the redheaded hacker sighed to herself in despair.

Not far away the British vampire who had eventually taken the Master's place controlling Sunnydale, after Buffy had staked that ancient bloodsucker five months earlier, paused as he took in all the chaos and pandemonium happening in the town built upon the Hellmouth. There was screaming and running and the sound of angry demons everywhere.

"Well. This is just...neat!" Spike a.k.a. William the Bloody said to himself with a wide grin.

* * *

**Abandoned church, Sunnydale**

**November 13****th****, 1997**

**6:38 pm**

Spike was in a bad mood, as he fought the Slayer. Not Buffy, but the Jamaican girl named Kendra; the new girl who had been called to her duty before Erica had revived Miss Summers roughly six months ago. After getting in a lucky punch that sent the junior Chosen One reeling, the English vampire grabbed a torch from its wall hanger and threw it into a pile of old drapes, setting them ablaze.

"Look out!" Erica shouted, as the fire quickly spread within the church which was being used to heal Spike's weak girlfriend and sire, Drusilla. The mystical ritual in question was not complete given how Angel, who was Spike's grandsire, was not yet dust and ashes. But the undead villain knew the tide of battle had shifted, what with the white hats already having taken out most of his minions.

So William the Bloody decided there was no more time and quickly unstrapped Drusilla from Angel. "Sorry, baby. Gotta go." He lifted the dark-haired vampiress into his arms and started down the aisle. "Hope that was enough..."

With nothing holding him up anymore, Angel fell to the floor behind them. Buffy crawled over to him and saw Spike making his escape. Intent on stopping him, she stood up and grabbed the censer from the altar. The senior Slayer quickly swung it around her head by its chain a few times, and then launched it at Spike as hard as she could.

It hit him in the back of the head, and the British undead stumbled into the church organ. The keyboard console collapsed under his and Drusilla's weight as soon as they hit it. A moment later, the entire organ superstructure collapsed onto the two soulless creatures, with its huge brass pipes clanging and rolling everywhere.

"Wow, I'm good!" Buffy said to herself, astonished and quite pleased at her luck. She then gestured to Kendra, "C'mon, help me. We gotta get him outta here!"

Kendra rolled her eyes but nonetheless obeyed. The entire Scooby Gang, including Cordelia oddly enough, quickly fled the burning church as the organ that had buried Spike and Dru also caught on fire.

* * *

**Sunnydale High Basement, Sunnydale**

**December 10****th****, 1997**

**6:33 pm**

Buffy knew she was in for a tough battle as she fought the two cowboy vamps known as Lyle and Tector Gorch simultaneously. And as if that wasn't enough, her friends and most of the school had been possessed by the offspring of a pre-prehistoric demon known as a Bezoar, and they wanted to kill her, too. "Guys, this really isn't a great time..."

Lyle and Tector paid no attention as they attacked the Chosen One. Then a lot of the students attacked all three of them, a moment before Tector was yanked into the pit of the mother Bezoar and, well, eaten.

"TECTOR!" Lyle shouted in alarm, as he saw his brother's boots disappear into the liquid of the pit. "Tector?"

His brother didn't answer, but the mother Bezoar let out a deep, loud belch. Lyle then looked over at Buffy and said angrily, "This is all _**your**_ fault!"

Buffy honestly didn't get it. "How do you figure that?"

The Texan vampire didn't answer her, he just grabbed Buffy by the shoulder and flipped her over onto her back. Sensing an opportunity, the mama Bezoar wrapped a tentacle around her ankles and pulled the Slayer into the pit. Buffy managed to grab a pickaxe on the way, though, and dragged it down below with her.

Lyle just listened in amazement as Buffy and the mother Bezoar began to fight underneath the surface, and all the digging activity in the room came to a stop. The students and teachers gathered around the pit and watched. Slashing sounds and Bezoar snarls emanated from the depths as Lyle stepped closer for a better look.

The mother Bezoar suddenly let out a loud death scream from a particularly vicious blow from the pickaxe. Instantly, its hatchlings all fell away from their hosts, dead, and then all the teenagers and adults collapsed to the floor unconscious. Lyle Gorch thought to himself, ( _What in tarnation is all this? What just happened here, God damn it?_ )

He slowly stepped even closer to the pit, cautiously looking around at all the prone bodies. He eventually came to the edge and looked in. It was at that moment that the pickaxe came flying out and landed on the floor right next to him.

Buffy subsequently pulled herself up and out of the pit, dripping with black slime. Looking pissed and mean, the Vampire Slayer stood up and angrily glared Lyle right in the eye. "I told you this wasn't a great time."

Lyle just nodded, "Alright." He hurriedly tipped his hat. "See ya around, Slayer."

Gorch wisely turned on his heel and quickly hightailed it out of there. Exhausted from the fight, Buffy just watched him go before heading up out of the underground room herself.

A short while later, Giles was attempting to give some sort of official explanation to all the confused and dirty people around him as fire trucks and the police arrived on campus while wondering to himself exactly what had happened. "Yes, yes, uh, i-i-it was a-a, a gas leak, everyone. Uh, well, just, uh, get some air, and a...good night's rest, you know, uh, you'll be fine. These gas things...will happen." He stopped walking as he saw Erica and asked sotto voce, "W-w-what was it, really?"

Miss Harris shrugged, "Stick with the gas thing, I'll fill you in tomorrow." As Giles nodded and walked off, Erica turned to face Willow and Cordelia. "How are you two doing?"

"Erica, did I really hit you?" Willow asked in shame and confusion.

Her oldest friend nodded, "You knocked me out with a microscope, the same time Cordelia knocked Buffy out with a pipe."

Cordelia asked, "I actually hit you as well?"

The Harris girl looked at her in a very unfriendly way. "Yes, Cordelia, right where it _**hurt**_!"

Miss Chase shrugged, "Good. Well, I don't mean 'good' because I hit you, it's just I didn't wanna be left out."

Erica resisted the urge to growl at her former childhood nemesis, wondering why the hell the brunette May Queen always seemed to show up whenever the Hellmouth weirdness reared its ugly head. After making sure Buffy was okay, the female teen decided it was simply just one more of life's strange mysteries, and went home to get some much-needed sleep.

* * *

**Sunnydale High Basement, Sunnydale**

**December 11****th****, 1997**

**12:01 am**

Within the dank and smelly pit, the mother Bezoar's corpse had already disintegrated completely. Above in the basement Sunnydale's finest had long since departed the room after conducting a cursory examination, and all was dark and quiet.

Until suddenly, it wasn't any longer.

The liquid of the pit started to boil and bubble, as if it was being heated by some huge fire, while the stone surface started melting, sinking down and exposing large areas of the underground pool. Then the liquid started to whirl around, rotating faster and faster with an incredible amount of centrifugal force.

Loud noises and bright lights suddenly started to emanate out of the pit, as a minor earthquake shook the building. A moment later though, it all stopped...at the same time that a male figure covered with black slime was ruthlessly ejected out of the depths of the abyss.

The man crash-landed onto the exact same spot Lyle Gorch had occupied scant hours ago, completely unconscious.

Alexander (a.k.a. Xander) LaVelle Harris, 21 years old, had arrived into an alien world.

A world that was almost the mirror image of what his world had been like, just a few short years ago.

To Be Continued...


	2. Stranger In A Strange Land

See Part One for disclaimer and details. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and sent feedback so far, as always I really do appreciate it. Please, keep 'em coming. And now, on with the story...

* * *

**Part Two: Stranger In A Strange Land**

**Abandoned Warehouse, Sunnydale**

**December 11****th****, 1997**

**12:01 am**

Stuck in a wheelchair, Spike anxiously turned around as he heard the sound of Drusilla screaming.

The past month or so, ever since Buffy had crippled him in that damned church, Drusilla had been taking care of him instead of the other way around. The British vampire constantly fumed at his own helplessness, but consoled himself with the knowledge that he wouldn't be stuck in his wheelchair forever – and when he finally got up and was able to move again, William knew he was going to make the blonde chit and the ultimate traitor to his race pay for everything they'd done to him. In blood.

But there were other things to deal with before then. For example, his beautiful and demented sire.

"Darling, what is it?" Spike anxiously asked Drusilla, who was now writhing on the floor. "Dru? What's wrong?"

"Someone's come to change it all. Someone new," Drusilla whispered before she said more loudly, "The Slayer's White Knight...but he, he can't be here! The stars – they told me, they told me that my kitten wouldn't be here, that he couldn't be here!"

Spike didn't get it, but that wasn't at all unusual. He often had to dig through Drusilla's crazed ramblings carefully in order to ferret out useful information. "Betty's got herself a new friend, hmm? Right, then – tell me more, pet. What else did you see?"

Dru's psychic antennae vibrated and she picked up fragments of a conversation from another world, and from a time not yet come.

"You let that evil, soulless thing touch you. You wanted me to feel something? Congratulations, it worked. I look at you – and I feel sick. 'Cause you had sex with that!"

"It's good enough for Buffy."

"Shut up and leave her out of..."

"Buffy?"

"Xander..."

"I don't want to know this. I don't want to know any of this!"

"DONE! What? Why did I do that-?"

Horrified, Drusilla screamed again.

And she kept on screaming for a very, very long time.

* * *

**Sunnydale High, Sunnydale**

**Nearly nine hours later**

"So, so, you're telling me that we were all neural-clamped by the Bezoar offspring yesterday?" Giles asked, as he, Buffy, Willow and Erica headed for the library. "And, and it took Buffy killing the mother Bezoar to terminate their hold over everyone?"

"Yep," Willow said absently. Her brilliant mind was still focused on the musician named Daniel Osborne she'd encountered earlier today, who apart from Jesse was the only male teenager she'd ever met who didn't treat her like a loser nerd.

"It's _**so **_unfair," Miss Summers whined. "Not only am I, like, grounded for a month, I'm confined to the barracks as well! I save everybody from the evil demon last night, and my mom treats me like I'm a delinquent. Giles, are you sure we can't just tell her everything? 'Cause I'm getting pretty tired of this sort of thing!"

"Buffy, we've been over this before," Erica told her friend before Rupert could get a word in. "And you know what's gonna happen if your mother learns the truth, don't you? First of all, she'll wig out. Then she'll start demanding you stop risking your life for other people. Then she'll start wanting to know how you can stop being the Slayer. Finally, she'll start following you around at nights, once she realizes there's nothing else she can do to affect things, and probably get herself killed trying to keep you safe. I mean, am I wrong or what, Giles?"

The Watcher adjusted his glasses tiredly and said, "Uh, well, no, most likely not. That's, that's one of the reasons why most Potentials are removed from their families and raised by the Council, you see. It spares everyone a lot of difficulties and misunderstandings."

"Fine, you win," Buffy grumbled, giving in as the gang finally arrived in the library. "But I don't have to like it-"

"OH MY GOD!" Willow shouted as they went inside. "Who's that?!"

Everyone looked and saw Xander lying on the floor of the library, covered in black slime. Not long after Drusilla had had her psychic vision, he had blurrily come to and crawled his way out of the basement. Unable to think clearly, the young man had somehow, instinctively, dragged himself to the library before collapsing unconscious again.

"Hey, he looks like I did after I killed that Bozo demon last night!" Buffy exclaimed, recognizing the color of the slime.

"It's Bezoar – no, never mind. Willow, go get the school nurse; we'll probably need to take the poor man to the hospital if that damned demon tried to kill him-" Giles started to say.

"Wait!" Erica called out, looking freaked. She knelt down to examine Xander, sniffing deeply.

"Erica, what are you doing?" Giles demanded impatiently.

The Harris girl got up and faced the others, her face a mask of confusion. Erica usually didn't like to dwell on the fact that, unlike her former pack mates, the Primal hyena spirit had bonded itself to her and refused to leave back in April. But now, just this once, she was rather glad it had turned out that way.

According to all the books on trans-possession, if the Alpha of the Pack was female, then the matriarchal Primal couldn't be involuntarily removed without killing its host. So, its essence had remained in the background ever since sophomore year and given Erica an enhanced sense of taste and smell, even if the spell done by Giles had suppressed the animalistic urges and superhuman strength.

"Guys, I don't understand how or why, but he, he smells like-"

"Like what?" Willow prompted.

"Family," Erica choked out, staring at Xander weirdly.

* * *

**Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale**

**A short while later**

Deep inside Xander's scrambled brain, strange and incomprehensible thoughts swirled around in a very confused and chaotic mess.

Thanks to his amazing journey and the magicks involved, the young man's memories had quite a few holes in them right now. Not only was being hurled into a parallel universe very disorienting to the human mind, but Xander had also just learned something he would have preferred to forget, any day of the week.

In a nutshell, in accordance with his own words, Xander Harris now "didn't know any of this."

Slowly, painfully, he started to become aware of his surroundings. Xander could feel gentle female hands on his face, as well as something which might have been a towel rubbing against his skin.

"I think he's awake!"

The female voice was too loud, too jarring in his ears. The interdimensional traveller groaned, and instinctively pushed out with his hands, wanting his own personal space. The hands and the towel retreated as Xander groaned, "Uhhh...where am I?"

"You're currently within the Sunnydale High School library," an Englishman's voice said. "Who are you, if I may ask? And h-how did you get here?"

Xander forced his eyes open. The morning daylight viciously stung his eyeballs, almost blinding him as he blinked repeatedly. Then the smell of the library hit his nose; the odor of musty old books, combined with the sweat from Buffy's training sessions, was enough to trigger something familiar inside his jumbled Harris mind.

"Hello, buddy? Anyone home? Giles asked you a question," an impatient female voice demanded.

"I don't know how I got here," Xander's eyesight finally adjusted itself to its surroundings and he stared at the three teenagers – a blonde, a redhead and a black-haired girl, standing alongside an older guy who just screamed out 'stiff upper lip'. "And, and my name is Xander."

"Xander who?" Willow and Erica both asked at the same time.

Harris opened his mouth, and then slowly shut it again. "I have no idea," he confessed. "I, I don't remember." The man then stared at his companions. "Who are you people?"

"Er, I'm Rupert Giles, I'm the school librarian," the British man said hurriedly. "And these three young ladies are, are Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg and Erica Harris, respectively. They're students here, and they were with me when I found you over there on the floor."

"I see. Uh, well, nice to meet you," Xander said hesitantly, before something else occurred to him. Looking down, he asked with some incredulity, "What the hell happened to my clothes?"

Giles handed him the towel. "We were rather hoping you could tell us, but, um, there was a, a, a gas leak here on the school campus last night, there were quite a few people affected. Given how we found you unconscious on the floor a few minutes ago, it, um, it's not unreasonable to posit you might have been one of them?"

"Right. So you think that's why I can't remember who I am?" Xander asked, buying the story completely. He didn't wait for an answer as an idea struck him, and Harris started searching himself. "No wallet," the young man cursed.

Just then, the bell rang and Giles turned to the students. "You three, you'd best head off to class. I'll take care of our guest for now, and I-I-I'll see you all later."

The female teens unwillingly all headed off to homeroom and then first period. Giles took Xander off to the faculty office for a shower and a change of clothes, and then the two men sat down and started to talk.

* * *

**Sunnydale High School corridor, Sunnydale**

**Later that lunchtime**

Cordelia Chase fairly reeked of dissatisfaction, as she headed towards the school library. ( _What's the matter with me? Why do I continue to associate with these, these loser freaks and geeks? If I'm not careful, it's gonna do irreparable harm to my reputation as Queen C around here. Harmony and the rest would just love an excuse to turn on me, I'm sure..._ )

If Cordelia was going to be honest with herself, however, she knew why she had peripherally attached herself to the Library Loser Crowd as she called them. Ever since Buffy Summers had ridden her unwelcome fanny into town, Miss Chase had constantly been sucked into the seedier aspects of Sunnydale, and her ability to repress about the real world had eroded away completely. Suddenly, everything that Cordy had felt she was good at, everything she'd worked so hard to attain in her young life, it all actually seemed worthless compared to the Slayer's true role in the grand scheme of things.

Plus, there was the fact that the beauty queen wanted to live, to graduate from high school before becoming a model or an actress or whatever, so like it or not, if she wanted to survive Cordelia needed to keep herself informed about the freakier side of life. Whether the latest apocalypse was just around the corner, so to speak.

As she stepped into the library, Cordy heard Erica's voice say, "So, he really doesn't remember anything?"

"Well, apparently the guy remembers the basics. You know, animals, numbers, flossing," Buffy said with a shrug.

"But he did get some things wrong. Like, he didn't know who was President! Huh, I wonder why he thought George Bush was still the Commander-in-Chief?" Willow asked her friends, mistaken in her assumption over who Xander had been talking about. "I mean, he left office years ago..."

"Who the heck are you tweakos talking about?" Cordelia's sharp voice intruded into the conversation, causing the Three Musketeers to turn around and look at her.

"Cordelia. Is there a reason why you're here gracing us with your presence?" Miss Harris asked sarcastically.

Cordy scowled at her. The two's antagonism went all the way back to kindergarten, when Erica had chosen Willow's friendship over hers, and even now Miss Chase found it hard to let go of the past. "Look, I didn't come here to fight, okay? I just want to be sure the world isn't going to implode or anything tomorrow, 'cause I have some very important appointments on Saturday. So could you please just answer the question, and then we can all get on with something else we'd rather be doing?"

"We found some guy sprawled out on the floor here this morning, and when he woke up, he didn't even know his last name," Buffy said with a small sigh.

"But see, he was covered with Bezoar blood just like Buffy was last night, and-and so we were wondering what was up with that," Willow added helpfully.

"Giles took him away to get cleaned up, just before homeroom. Get all that demon goop off of him," Erica finished off the explanation with a shrug. "We don't know much else yet."

"Oh, God. Why does _**every **_conversation I have with you people always have to include things like blood and demons in it?" Cordy asked hopelessly. "Forget it, I'm outta here." The cheerleader turned around to leave, but at that instant, Giles and Xander walked through the library doors and into her field of vision.

As soon as she laid eyes on the handsome young man at the Watcher's side, Miss Chase was overcome by a tidal wave of lust and desire, one the likes of which she had never experienced before. "Hi. Uh, who are you?" she said rather breathlessly.

"My name's Xander," Harris said carefully, noting her reaction. "Who are you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm Cordelia Chase," the busty brunette laughed and stroked her throat seductively.

"And she was just leaving," Erica said firmly, recognizing that predatory look in Cordelia's eyes and quickly dragging her social enemy to the door. Thanks to her enhanced senses Miss Harris could literally smell the pheromones Cordy's body had started releasing, and for some reason, she didn't want Xander to be exposed to them.

"What are you – hey!!" Cordy yelped as Erica dragged her out of there. "What is your damage, you fashion reject?"

Out in the corridor, the two girls started to talk. "That's the guy who doesn't remember anything," Erica said firmly. "And I just wanted to make sure you didn't start shooting your mouth off about the Hellmouth-related stuff, okay?"

"What do you think I am, deficient? And yeah right, as if that was the real reason you acted like a territorial skank just now," Cordelia's eyes narrowed.

( _Okay, if that's the way you want to play it..._ ) Erica thought to herself. "Cordelia, listen to me carefully. You need to stay away from him, understand? There's something...weird...about that guy."

"What are you talking about? And if you think that's gonna scare me off just so that _**you**_ can sink your claws into him..."

"It's not like that," Erica gritted out, trying – not very successfully – to keep a rein on her temper. "I mean, I'm not interested in him that way. Even if I wasn't still in mourning over Jesse, I just met the man. And besides, he's way too old for me. Amnesia Boy must be in his early twenties, at least-"

"So what?" Cordelia interrupted, sounding just like the jealous schoolgirl she was. "It just so happens that I prefer older men!"

"And we both know where that leads, don't we? Like, remember Darryl Epps? Or that demon frat boy, what was his name – Tom something?" Erica asked impatiently.

"I can't believe you have the nerve to even mention his name!!" Cordy snarled, uncomfortably reminded of that night when the demon Machida had almost eaten both herself and Miss Harris before the Scoobies had ridden to the rescue.

"Whatever," the female Slayerette exhaled. "Look Cordelia, don't get me wrong, I don't dislike him; like I said I just met him, and matter of fact I feel rather sorry for him right now. But please, _**please**_, for once in your life listen to me. Practically every boy in this school is yours for the taking, so just stay away from this guy. Okay?"

It was obvious from the unfriendly look that Miss Chase threw her way that Erica's plea had fallen on deaf ears. Cordelia then turned around and imperiously strode off, head high and shoulders thrown back, looking every inch the icy and untouchable queen of Sunnydale High.

( _Well, at least I didn't have to tell her how Xander somehow smells like a Harris,_ ) Erica mused as she headed back into the library. ( _And I wonder how Willow's doing on that Internet search? Hopefully, she's found something on who our mystery guest actually is by now._ )

"Okay, this is weird," Willow said from her seat in front of the computer, as her friend rejoined the group. "Are you sure you've given me the right social security number?"

"No, but it's the only one I can remember, so I figured it was mine," Xander said with a small shrug. "I mean, why would I have memorized a number which wasn't my own?"

"I don't know. But like I said, this is weird," Willow gestured at the computer. "'Cause that social security number belongs to Erica, not you. And I'm sorry, but with no driver's license or any other sort of ID, trying to find any other relevant information on-line – it's, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack the size of Mount Rushmore!"

"I agree. Without even a surname to go with, I-I don't see how this can possibly get us very far," Giles spoke up.

"So what do you wanna do? Check with the police, see if anyone's filed a missing person's report?" Buffy asked Xander.

"No cops! Especially not that asshole Detective Stein-" Xander said automatically, before a look of bewilderment fell upon his face. "Why did I say that? And who the heck is 'Detective Stein'?" he wanted to know.

Giles looked at his Slayer in concern. It had barely been two weeks since the balding Sunnydale PD official had investigated the death of 'Ted Buchanan', the crazed homicidal robot that had wanted to kidnap and kill Buffy's mother. Stein had almost pressed manslaughter charges against Buffy, before the blonde Chosen One had been cleared of any wrongdoing. ( _And thank God for that, otherwise the Council might have decided to 'retire' Buffy from active duty now that Kendra is available._ )

Giles cleared his throat, focusing on Xander's question. "The man is, er, a detective in the local police force-"

"And, he's a complete dick," Erica said to Xander, ignoring Buffy's upset look. "You got that part right, for sure."

"Yes, uh, moving on," Giles said with a long-suffering sigh. "Well, if official channels are out of the question, then I'm not quite sure what our next step should be. It's totally up to you, of course..."

"But I don't even have a clue what to do!" Xander shouted, suddenly appearing very upset. "This is crazy. There are so many things I know, but I don't know how or why I know them! Like, I know that I work in construction, but why can't I remember why I chose that career path? I know that I'm a good bowler, but why can't I remember who I went out to practice with most Thursday nights? I don't even know why I hate robots and vampires!

"Wait a minute, I hate vampires?" Xander looked astonished at hearing the words coming out of his mouth. "Where the hell did _**that**_ come from?"

The three girls and Giles shared a look. "I think we should tell him. It kinda sounds like he knew, and odds are he'll eventually remember everything anyway," Buffy pointed out.

"Tell me what?" Xander demanded.

"Buffy, I, I don't know. There's a reason why most people repress about this sort of thing, if only to maintain their own sanity. Perhaps that's what's happened, he simply couldn't handle knowing the truth," Giles riposted.

"What truth?" Xander demanded more heatedly

"Giles, I think Buffy's right. Lies and concealment only get you so far, and in this town, they can also get you dead," Willow said firmly.

"What can get me dead?" Xander wanted to know, getting even more annoyed as the people with him seemed to ignore his questions.

"Personally, I think the more people who know the big secret, the more it cheapens it for the rest of us. I say, he doesn't need to know just yet," Erica put in her own two cents.

"HEY!!" Xander bellowed as loudly as he could, waving his arms around and getting everyone's attention. Not surprisingly, he had grown sick and tired of being ignored like this. "I'm standing right here, people! So stop talking about me as if I wasn't! Now, if you guys have got something that I need to know, then I want to know it. Otherwise, I'm walking out that door right now and have a nice life without me!"

Giles quickly made his decision: the threat of this human question mark running around loose in Sunnydale was not worth maintaining secrecy about the existence of demons and vampires. ( _Blast it all, but I really hate this part._ ) "All right, mister, uh, Xander, please sit down. Now, what I'm about to tell you may seem quite unbelievable at first..."

"You're talking to a guy who can barely remember his own name, Mr. Giles. Believe me, I'm sure I'm gonna be a lot less prejudiced than the average guy on the street around here," Xander promised him.

"Yes, quite. But to put it in its plainest possible terms, this world is in fact a lot older than you might have ever believed. And contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their, their hell. But in time, they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. And today, all that remains of that era are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures..."

"Like vampires," Buffy said with a grin.

Xander looked at them both, and then got up out of the chair. "I'm outta here, 'cause you people are obviously insane..."

The Vampire Slayer grabbed him by the shoulder and forced Xander to sit down again. "We're not finished yet. Giles – keep going."

"Right. Well, the books describe how the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixing their blood. He became a human form possessed, infected by the demon's essence; in other words, the first vampire. He bit another, and another, and so now they walk the Earth, feeding – killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the Old Ones to return," the Watcher said in a dry, straightforward tone of voice.

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say, British man," Xander replied, humoring him and still trying to get up – yet failing miserably. "Damn it, little girl, are you totally scoffing down the steroids or what?" he demanded of Buffy.

"Buffy is, is not a drug user. She's the Vampire Slayer," Rupert said hurriedly, after seeing the irritated expression on his charge's face. "For as long as there have been vampires, you see, there's also been the Slayer. In every generation there, there's one girl in all the world, the Chosen One. She alone has the strength and skill to hunt them, and stop the swell of their numbers."

"I can tell he still ain't buying it. We need to do something else to convince him," Erica spoke up. "Buffy, let him go."

Miss Summers reluctantly did so, and Xander immediately headed for the door. Only to find Erica standing in his way. "What's the rush? You said you wanted to know the truth, didn't you?"

"Sweetheart, your truth is my big belly laugh. Well, it would be if I was in a better mood right now," Xander declared as he tried to step around her.

"So, then, you probably won't care that I think we're related, somehow. On account of you smell like family to me," Miss Harris told her counterpart from another world. She took a deep whiff, ignoring Xander's surprised stare. "You took a shower earlier today, right? The soap you used, it was a brand that contained very low amounts of sandalwood. You put on some Brut 33 aftershave afterwards, the same stuff that Giles uses. You ate some Twinkies at some point today as well, good for you – I love eating 'em myself. And there are other things I can smell on you right now, that no normal human being ever possibly could," the young woman said. "Just like Buffy has a strength that no normal girl her age and size can possibly possess.

"Want another demonstration? 'Cause we've got all the time in the world to convince you, if you're interested."

Xander's brain was finding it almost impossible to cope with the information being received, and he quickly collapsed back into his chair. "You can't be...she can't be...this, this cannot be happening..."

"I think maybe we broke him," Willow said worriedly, staring at the man from another reality who was now shaking his head back and forth.

"Nah. I think eventually, he'll be just fine," Erica said with a wide grin. "After all, the Harris's are pretty flexible – we bend, but we don't break all that easily."

To Be Concluded...


	3. Birthday Surprise

See Part One for disclaimer and details. Hey everybody; first of all, thanks to everyone and anyone who's reviewed and sent feedback on this story, I truly do appreciate it. That being said, however, this one's coming to a relatively quick end; hopefully there will be a sequel, but with the way real life is yanking me in several different directions at the moment, it might take a while. Anyway, here is the final chapter of "Mirror, Mirror"...

* * *

**Part Three: Birthday Surprise**

**A higher being dimension, relatively close to Earth**

**December 12****th****, 1997**

**1:01 am**

"What in the name of the Creator do you think you're doing?!"

( _Didn't take them long, did it?_ ) Janus thought to himself as he absently checked the time. ( _Just as I thought. They're precisely on time._ )

According to the ancient covenant sworn centuries before the birth of Christ, each so-called god had a grace period of an hour and a day before its peers could demand an explanation of any world-changing actions that had been undertaken. And Hecate and Diana had timed it exactly to the instant, which almost certainly meant they were very upset about something he'd done.

"You'll have to be a bit more specific," Janus finally drawled, after he saw the pair just about ready to burst from frustration. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"Come on. You know perfectly well why we're here! Everyone's in a complete uproar over this latest stunt of yours. You had no right to remove that human from his home world and send him where he doesn't belong!!" Diana yelled.

"A 'stunt'? You two of all people should know by now that there's _**always**_ a reason for my actions," Janus replied calmly. "And no right to do what I did? I should think that maintaining the status quo of the entire multi-dimensional infinity of the Universe is more than enough justification for what I've done," the Roman god of gates, doors, beginnings and endings said to his companions.

Both visitors calmed down at once as Hecate spoke up, "What have you foreseen?"

"Oh, the usual. Death, destruction, mayhem and despair," Janus replied casually with a wave of his hand. "Only this time, the First Evil has gotten itself involved."

Both Hecate and Diana stiffened at the mention of their ancient enemy. "And how will having that boy where he is now frustrate its plans?" Diana wanted to know.

Janus smirked, "You really don't like him, do you? Just because that foolish blonde acolyte of yours botched his idiotic love spell that night..."

"Enough," Hecate snapped, not wanting to hear anything more about that. "Now tell me. With regard to the matter at hand, what is your – what do the humans call it – game plan?"

The Lord of Changes (which was often wrongly perceived as Chaos) stared at her. "He is aptly named, the Defender of Mankind," Janus said slowly. "Alexander is my chosen vessel, my avatar almost. And in my 'game plan' as you call it – eventually, he will personally save the world he was sent to from destruction. More than once."

"And what of the world he has left behind?" Diana wanted to know. "He had his own destiny to fulfill there."

"Irrelevant. There was nothing worthwhile left for him to do in that place," Janus snorted. "At least not in my opinion, anyway."

Indeed, this higher being didn't care much that Buffy Summers would now die from a bullet in her backyard and Willow Rosenberg would lapse into catatonic grief after killing both the murderer and his two partners-in-crime; all that mattered was that the First Evil's plan for world domination would be ended, by correcting the imbalance created by Buffy's second resurrection from the dead.

The First would thus be unable to use Xander's world as a platform to invade and conquer all the other parallel universes out there, and the suffering and death within the Scooby Gang was simply what the humans called 'collateral damage', at least from Janus's point of view.

Hecate looked disapprovingly at Janus. "This mortal you have chosen to manipulate is nearly five years ahead of his time, though. What if he remembers something he shouldn't, and does something that will adversely affect the Grand Design? Free will, and all that."

"What with the way his memories are 'Swiss-cheesed', I believe the term is, it is highly unlikely that will happen," Janus said somewhat patronizingly. Then he sobered up and added, "That being said, though, you raise a good point. However remote, the possibility exists. But there is a reason I chose Alexander as my champion in the mortal realm apart from his ability to make a mockery of prophecy, and to destroy the plans of both the Powers and their opponents. And that is his loyalty to his companions in this fight; he will do nothing to endanger the people he loves."

Both Diana and Hecate looked very skeptical about that, but there was nothing they could do about it either way.

* * *

**The Bronze, Sunnydale**

**December 27****th****, 1997**

**7:13 pm**

Xander sat in his own private booth within the nightclub, doing something that in another world he would have never done willingly. He watched all the dancing teenagers around him, and brooded about his situation.

He had been stuck in this world for over two weeks now, and Xander's sense of unease had grown with every passing day. It wasn't just the shock of learning about the real world in the library; Harris had thought about it and eventually decided Buffy was right – he must have known about the demons and vampires in his unremembered past. Harris knew he had accepted the whole Slayer thing far too easily for it to be otherwise, after all.

No, the problem was that Xander still didn't know who he really was, even though Erica was convinced that he was a distant cousin of some sort. She had dragged him home to meet her parents, and the first thing her father had said to Xander was, "Son, you look like the spitting image of my brother Rory when he was your age, God rest his poor tortured soul. What's up with that?"

Erica had managed to spin some sort of yarn about Xander being an orphan in search of his biological parents, which had pretty much satisfied Tony and Jessica's curiosity. The young man had quickly left that house, though, when it became obvious the middle-aged couple didn't know anything that could help him find out who he truly was. Still, Xander had accepted that Erica was probably right; and since he needed a surname in order to find a job and start living his life again, 'Harris' was as good a name as any and would do for now.

Giles had offered him the spare room in his condo and Willow had managed to set up a new identity for him, thanks to her hacking skills, so now the former Zeppo was trying to settle down and integrate into this alien mirror of Sunnydale. Unfortunately, he hadn't had much luck so far.

"Hey!" a cheery female voice distracted Xander from his thoughts. "I know, is the Bronze so not happening tonight or what?"

Xander glanced at her as Cordelia sat down next to him in the booth. "Hello, Miss Chase."

Cordelia looked annoyed at the formality, the distinctly tigerish man-eating look in her eyes betraying her real reasons for dropping by Xander's booth. Over the last two weeks, she had tried to spend almost every available moment around the man, and the girl had even used her father's connections to help Harris find gainful employment. Old money did come with some privileges, after all.

"Uch, please. I've told you before, you can call me Cordelia. I mean, it's not like we're strangers, is it?"

"Well, that's the thing. Everyone's a stranger to me," Xander replied slowly. "In a lot of ways, it's like my life just began a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, and that must be _**so**_annoying," Cordy said coquettishly. "Still, I know just the thing to take your mind off of it for a while."

"And that is?"

"We go have some fun on the dance floor, of course!" Cordelia's megawatt smile was as bright and clear as the dawning of a new day. "I'm sure you'll love it. And I bet you're a great dancer too, right?"

"I honestly don't know," Xander mused. "Up until now, it never even occurred to me to wonder about that."

"Well, then there's no time like the present to find out. So, Xander, what do you say?" the cheerleader asked charmingly.

Xander stared at her. "Just out of interest, Miss Cha- Cordelia. Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Hitting on a guy a lot older than you. Because right now I may not know much, but I can remember how old I am," Xander replied, staring her right in the eye. "And you're not even 17 years old yet."

"My birthday is next week," Cordelia said at once. "And hey, what does it really matter how old you are? I mean, Giles is gotta be like a hundred, but he can still kick demon ass better than most guys less than half his age!"

Harris smiled at hearing that. "I can tell you like him, no matter how hard you try to hide it," he told her. "I'm not blind, you know. And the fact is, I've also noticed how hurt you become when those three girls belittle or ignore you inside that library. Every time you call them losers or pathetic or whatnot, it's to cover up the pain of knowing they'll never consider you the fourth musketeer of their little group, isn't it?"

Cordelia went pale at hearing that and was about to get up and leave, when Xander caught her arm. "I know that it's none of my business. But you don't have to pretend or wear any sort of mask around me, Cordelia; there's no point. I understand your need to feel needed. I pretty much feel that way myself, all the time," Harris confessed, deciding to unburden himself a little.

"Who _**are**_ you?" Cordelia asked slowly, dropping the sexual predator act. She was feeling a bit unnerved by the extraordinarily uncanny insights of the 'one who sees everything'. "Mister, I've never met _**anyone**_ like you in my entire life. I mean, all the guys from school? Forget it – they've only got one thing on their minds, apart from sports and cars and action movies. But it's like you actually have a brain, and you really do pay attention to what I'm thinking and feeling. God, how is it that no woman around here has managed to snap you up yet?"

"I haven't exactly put myself on the market for that sort of thing," Xander replied, somewhat amused by the girl's rather blunt and tactless comments. "Besides, for all I know I may have a very special someone out there looking for me, even though according to Willow – there haven't been any missing person's reports for anybody matching my description. Well, at least not yet."

"That must really suck for you," Cordelia shook her head. "Well, never mind. Their loss is my incredible gain!" The megawatt smile was now back full-force. The cheerleader then pleaded, "Come on, just one dance. I wanna satisfy my curiosity on how good a dancer you are, okay? Pleeeease?"

Shaking his head and giving in gracefully, Xander let himself be led out onto the dance floor. As he and Cordelia started dancing together during a slow and romantic ballad, the young woman felt exhilarated at all the envious looks she was getting from her flock about her latest male catch – and at the thought that, in a few days, she would be celebrating her 17th birthday.

( _Because I know what I want for a present this year, that's for sure. A cute, studly, college-age boyfriend! So what if he doesn't remember his life before two weeks ago? Once I'm done with him, he won't __**care**__ about remembering it anymore._ )

Miss Chase melted even further into her dance partner's arms, almost feeling like she was floating on air. ( _I don't know what it is, but besides him being mega-hot, I feel so good around this guy. Oh my God! I think I'm in love!_ )

That particular revelation was almost enough to make Cordelia lose her footing as they moved around on the dance floor. ( _I'm in love? With Xander? Oh boy, I'm in love with Xander! Hmm. Yeah, I kinda like the sound of that!_ )

* * *

**17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale**

**January 18****th****, 1998**

**1:33 am**

The time had come for Janus to act almost openly, as a critical nexus of events began to form around the defenders of the Hellmouth.

That night, dreams were the order of the day for almost all of the Scooby Gang. Janus had instructed his peer Morpheus on what to do, and thanks to the Roman god of dreams Buffy had a prophetic nightmare regarding Drusilla and Angel.

Xander had his own nightmare about a firefight in Vietnam, Morpheus unplugging the Halloween soldier memories as part of the plan to groom Harris into what Janus needed him to become.

Willow had a dream involving Oz and his band known as 'Dingoes Ate My Baby', and her eventually becoming one of their groupies.

Cordelia had her own fantasy involving a private condo in Malibu, Xander taking off his boxer shorts, and a very hot and steamy shower together.

But it was Erica who had the most interesting dream of all during the small hours of the morning.

Over the past month or so, the young woman had become determined to make Xander feel welcome amongst her social circle. Family is family, after all, and deep down, she had always wanted a brother.

Unfortunately, Miss Harris had run into a few snags with that plan, especially with regard to Angel; for some reason, Xander had furiously disliked the ensouled vampire from the first moment they'd met, which had caused some friction with Buffy. But apart from that, he got on okay with her and all the other females who were part of the group.

Including, unfortunately, Cordelia Chase.

Erica didn't get it. She had asked herself more than once, why was he so into that spoiled tramp? Apart from the obvious reasons, of course. And with regard to that, Xander wasn't some hormonal teenager who would have been willing to put up with Cordelia's bitchy attitude as long as that meant he still had a chance to have sex with her. Erica understood how her 'cousin' knew Queen C for who and what she was, and yet he hadn't completely rejected her presence in his life. How come? It simply did not compute.

"Oh, don't waste your time trying to figure Xander out. Believe me, better people than you have tried and failed, so it's honestly not worth the effort."

Erica blinked, suddenly finding herself alone in a dark and empty room. "What? What's going on? Who are you?" she asked, looking around but seeing nobody present.

"That doesn't matter-" the disembodied female voice started to say.

"Yes, it does. I'd like to know who the heck I'm talking to!" Miss Harris declared, looking around once more.

"All right, fine. Let's just say I'm the woman Xander left at the altar a few months ago, and leave it at that-"

"YOU'RE WHAT?" Erica shouted in disbelief.

"Will you stop interrupting? God, you really are just like him, female or not!" Anya sounded very annoyed. "Okay, listen up. As part of getting closure on our past relationship, I've been allowed to have this little chat with you. But I can't give you all the answers you're looking for. Or rather I could, but I won't, on account of the lower beings would instantly kill me for violating their orders like that. And even though I don't hate Xander any longer for what he did to me, he's not someone I'm willing to die for either, at least not anymore. Now we don't have an unlimited amount of time, so I advise you to consider carefully what questions you do ask. Go."

"Who is he?" Erica asked the first, most obvious question.

"He's Xander Harris, of course. You already knew that," the vengeance demon sounded exasperated.

"I didn't mean – where did he come from?" Erica asked next, trying to quell her own annoyance. ( _If this is just a dream, I swear, I really need to go see a shrink!_ )

"Oh, he was born and raised in Sunnydale. Just not – _**your**_ Sunnydale," Anya said awkwardly.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Erica was now feeling confused. "There's only one Sunnydale in America, isn't there?"

"I can't explain it any further, and you're wasting precious time," Anya said brusquely. "Ask me something else."

"How can we restore Xander's memories, let him remember who he really is?" the Harris girl riposted.

"You can't. One of the higher beings up there doesn't want him to remember everything," the female voice now sounded rather melancholy before cheering up a little. "But don't worry. He'll be allowed to remember what he needs to remember, in order for this world not to be destroyed or sucked into Hell or whatever."

"WHAT?" Erica yelled yet again.

"Damn it, already? Sorry. Our time's almost up," Anya said sadly. "You've got one more question, so make it a good one!"

"Why is Xander here? I mean if someone sent him to the Hellmouth and deliberately messed with his memories as part of the deal, what exactly is he supposed to accomplish in that sort of state?" the young woman wanted to know.

"The same thing he's been doing for as long as I've known him, of course. Save the world..."

Anya's voice faded away and Erica woke up in her bed with a jerk, sweating from the recent supernatural experience.

* * *

**Abandoned Warehouse, Sunnydale**

**January 19****th****, 1998**

**12:01 am**

The undead minion of Spike and Dru named Dalton came staggering into the main room with a box. The bookish, bespectacled vampire then said hesitantly to his boss, "I have your package."

"Just bloody well put it on the table near the others," Spike commanded him with a snarl. He took no notice as Dalton obeyed orders; the wheelchair-bound vampire was staring at his sire as he asked Drusilla, "So, are you sure you're dead set on this, pet? From what I hear, this bloke isn't exactly the most likeable fella to have as a houseguest 'n' all."

Drusilla just stared at her undead paramour. Ever since the night she had sensed Xander's arrival in this world, a change had definitely come over her. The deranged creature had started muttering about the kitten, and the demon, and the Slayer, and how they all had to die. In addition, Dru had started babbling about 'the other side of the mirror', 'a brother for a sister', and 'it's not going to be like that here'.

The violence factor had definitely increased, too. Dru had started killing indiscriminately, flying into deadly rages at the drop of a hat. She hadn't killed Spike yet, but the way things were going? William knew that saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time could make her lose it completely, and she'd rip off his head without any warning at all.

Still, that was one of the things Spike loved most about his sire – her unpredictability.

"He reeks of death," Drusilla finally said, referring to the Judge as she wandered over to the table and took a quick peek inside one of the boxes. "A terrible dragon in a world of princesses. But oh, Spike, he'll do wonderful things," the mad woman said dreamily. "Party tricks like the world has never seen. Oh, this will be my best party ever!"

"And why's that, luv?"

"Because, it'll also be the last one ever."

* * *

**The Bronze, Sunnydale**

**Nineteen hours later**

As everyone gathered at the empty nightclub in preparation for Buffy's 17th birthday surprise party, they set up the decorations and the food and everything else, and then the gang started to cluster together and talk whilst waiting for the birthday girl to show up.

Erica had talked to Xander and Giles earlier on, telling them about her dream the other night. Both males seemed unsure what to make of it all, and no one was even sure whether or not it had all been just the result of some bad junk food or whatnot. As far as Giles could tell, it wasn't a Slayer-type prophetic dream, and Buffy was the only one who got those anyway. So he simply suggested they discuss it again after the party was over.

As everyone got into their hiding spots, Miss Summers finally arrived with Jenny Calendar, the Computer Science teacher as well as Rupert's girlfriend, and the Slayer made a grand entrance by crashing through the window and staking the vampire she'd been fighting with. Right in front of Oz.

"Hey, did everybody see that guy just turn into dust?" the normally taciturn and calm musician asked in surprise, as everyone came out of their hiding places.

Willow, who was Oz's date for the evening, stammered, "Uh, well, uh...sort of."

Erica simply shrugged and said, "Thing is, Oz, vampires are real and a lot of them live here in Sunnydale. I'm sure Willow can fill you in on the rest."

"Gee, thanks," the redhead looked a little annoyed at her oldest friend. Then she said to her prospective boyfriend, "I know it's hard to accept at first-"

"Actually, it explains a _**lot**_," the high school senior interrupted, equilibrium fully restored.

"I can't believe you guys actually threw me a surprise party! That was so sweet of you," Buffy said, smiling and brushing off the vamp dust as she glanced around at the decorations.

"Happy birthday, Buffy," Angel said at once, as they embraced and she kissed him hungrily.

Not far away, Xander watched them with a scowl on his face. The man just couldn't help it; his seemingly irrational hatred of Sunnydale's undead population almost threatened to overwhelm his reason. Add in the dreams of blood and death in the jungle he'd been having recently, and it was a wonder Harris hadn't tried to stake Dead Boy yet.

To be honest, though, Xander didn't like feeling this way. He knew that Angel was an ally and had done nothing to earn his ire, so the human wasn't comfortable knowing that if it came down to a fight, the bloodsucker was the one who would have the moral high ground. ( _Can't help wondering, though, how did I know straight off that he was a vampire that night? And damn it, if Erica was right and someone up there deliberately sent me here – couldn't they at least have let me know the reason __**why**__ I hate vampires so much?_ )

"You okay?" Cordelia asked, seeing his dark expression and becoming rather concerned.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Harris lightened up and sent her a quick yet forced grin.

"Hey, can somebody give me a hand with this?" Jenny asked as she came in carrying a box – one that Dalton had left behind after he and his companion had encountered the Vampire Slayer outside the Bronze.

Xander came forward at once, as did Giles, and together they set it on the table. "What is it?" the younger man asked the undercover gypsy.

"I have no idea. Can, can it be opened?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah, looks like there's a release mechanism right here..."

Xander undid the latch, and stared at an arm encased within armor inside the box. Suddenly, without warning, the arm jumped up and started to throttle the man from another world.

"Xander!" Cordelia cried, as Buffy and Angel leaped forward to help. Harris struggled with the arm, almost losing consciousness, but between them the Slayer and the vampire managed to get it off his neck and back in the box, whereupon Giles slammed down the lid and locked it tight.

"Xander, are you okay?" Erica asked with obvious sibling concern.

"Yeah. But that thing had major grip," Xander choked out, rubbing his throat. Miss Chase instantly started to examine him, before silently berating the object of her affections for endangering himself like that. Xander ignored her and said simply to Buffy and Angel, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," said the Chosen One, as she stared at the box. "What _**was**_ that thing?"

"It looked like an arm," Oz spoke up.

Angel suddenly looked horrified. "It couldn't be. She wouldn't."

"Angel?" Willow asked in confusion.

The 245-year-old creature hesitated for a long moment. "It-it's a legend, from long before my time – of a demon brought forth to rid the Earth of the plague of humanity," the vampire said slowly. "To separate the righteous from the wicked..."

"...and to burn the righteous down," Angel and Xander said at the same time.

Everyone stared at the former Zeppo in surprise for that, and he just shrugged helplessly. "Hey, don't look at me. I don't know how I know it, I just do. I'm starting to remember more than I used to, maybe?"

"The demon, they call him the Judge," Angel said, still looking at Xander questioningly. Erica was looking at her mirror twin questioningly as well, what with her recent dream and all.

Giles now looked scared out of his wits. "The Judge? This is he?"

"Not all of him." The vampire started looking at the box like it was a ticking time bomb.

Buffy raised her hand, "Um, still needing the back story here?"

Giles took off his glasses, looking towards Angel. "He, he, he couldn't be killed, yes? Um, a-an army was sent against him. Most of them died – fortunately the, the few remaining survivors were finally able to dismember the Judge. But, uh, not kill him."

Angel nodded. "So legend has it. The pieces were scattered – buried in every corner of the Earth."

Xander could do the math. "So now, all the pieces are being brought here?"

Angel nodded. "By Drusilla. Spike would have more sense, but she's just crazy enough to do it. My God – she's planning to reassemble the Judge, and bring forth Armageddon."

"So, does anyone want cake?" Cordelia asked with a shrug as everyone looked at her. "I mean, if we're all gonna die it shouldn't be on an empty stomach, right?"

* * *

**The local docks, Sunnydale**

**Less than an hour later**

At Jenny's urging, Angel had been selected to take the box away from Sunnydale, out of the country to the remotest part of Asia. Buffy hadn't been all that happy about it, after the vampire had told her he had to catch a cargo ship to Nepal and disappear for a few months, so she had insisted on going with him to the docks before he left.

The two kissed intensely on the ramp leading onto the ship. More than anything right now, Buffy did not want to lose her undead boyfriend like this. Angel really didn't want to go either, the truth be told. So as if to answer their prayers, the vampires sent to recover the Judge's arm showed up at exactly the wrong moment and a fight began.

Under the orders of Dalton, who had been given one last chance to redeem himself before the insane Drusilla plucked his eyes out, two minions fought Buffy and Angel, distracting them and drawing them away from the prize. Dalton then dropped out of the cargo netting of the cargo ship and headed over to the box, grabbing it and starting to run.

Buffy saw what he was doing as she kicked her opponent away, "Angel! The box!"

Angel ducked a roundhouse kick from his opponent, grabbed the vampire's arm and flipped him over onto his back. He then quickly ran after Dalton. "Oh no you don't-"

Just then, Xander appeared in the soulless vampire's path, cross in hand. The young man had decided to be the extra support troops this evening, having had the strangest feeling that if he didn't follow Buffy and Angel to the cargo ship – he would regret it for the rest of his life. That was why he and Cordelia had snuck out while the others weren't looking, and she had driven him here in return for the promise of dinner and a movie tomorrow night.

"Back off, fang face!" Harris snarled as Dalton recoiled from the holy icon. At that moment, Angel caught up with the enemy and tackled him to the ground, the box tumbling away to the side.

Buffy fought her attacker as, not far away, Angel punched Dalton repeatedly and the boat's horn sounded. Deciding that all this simply wasn't worth it anymore Dalton chose to make a run for it, so after they got up he pushed Angel against Xander, who lost his balance and ended up in the water.

Buffy shouted to Angel after ducking a punch, "Go!"

The horn sounded again, indicating the cargo ship was just about to depart. Angel looked all torn up about it as he called out, "Buffy!"

"Just go!" she screamed, executing a number of kicks and punches to the vampire's face and body.

Angel grabbed the box containing the Judge's arm and rushed aboard the ship at the very last moment, watching Buffy fight the walking corpse and then stake him. As the enemy exploded into dust, the boat finally pulled away, embarking on a long journey to the other side of the world.

From his place in the higher dimension, Janus watched as Buffy jumped into the murky water of the harbor and started hauling Xander out of there. He could already perceive how a brand new future had just been born for all the defenders of the Hellmouth, thanks to Angel's successful departure from Sunnydale here and now.

It hadn't happened as he'd anticipated it would – there was no need now for his champion to break into the Sunnydale Armory to steal a rocket launcher in order to stop the Judge, given that Erica would never have thought of such a plan – but still, everything had worked out to his advantage in the end.

"So, you happy now?"

Janus turned to face the new arrival in his domain, the ascended version of Cordelia Chase from Xander's home world. "Pretty much," he replied. "So, are you mad at me as well for what I've done?"

"Mad? Why should I be mad? Just because the Cordelia of that world won't have to go broke, get a rebar in the gut, and die a neglected husk after some cosmic bitch body-jacks her? And the fact that she's snagged herself a studly older boyfriend that she's almost panting over? Why should little old me be mad about that?" Cordelia asked with an upraised eyebrow.

"No reason. And just so you know, this is only the beginning," Janus said to his newest colleague in delight.

The End...

For now


End file.
